My summer vacation:

Day 1, July 12, 2015

Flying to Belize!! My plane left at 5:40 am! What in the world was I thinking? I've got my malaria pills and I already got my typhoid vaccination, so I'm good to go!


My 35 lb pack with all of my clothes, sleeping bag, shoes, sunscreen, bug spray, etc., etc.

I landed in Belize around lunchtime and this is what I could see from my window... coral reefs, cays, and lots of Caribbean blue water.  Interesting note:  the airlines divert around Cuban airspace so they don't have to pay extra to the Cuban government.  Didn't know that.  

Belizean flag.  British Honduras won independence from Britain in 1981 and became known as Belize!!

So one of the first things that I saw when landing in Belize is a group of Mennonite women getting off the plane and being greeted by a huge Mennonite family outside.  The Mennonites are similar in beliefs and lifestyle to the Amish and they have turned rural areas of Belize into farmland and dairies.  They have contributed widely to the Belizean economy and when buying produce in Belize, most likely you are buying from a Mennonite provider.  The Mennonites began coming to Belize in 1959 because of the allowance to practice their religion and to  not have to serve in the military (since Belize does not have its own standing army anyway).   

I was surprised by how small the airport in Belize City is.  It's a small regional airport and I had expected something larger just because it's in the city.  After meeting a fellow teacher traveling with our group, we got a taxi to our hotel, the Chateau Caribbean.  Our room is large and the hotel faces the ocean.  I was surprised by how shallow and calm the water is.  There is no beach; the water comes right up to a low seawall and then the road is level with the wall.  But a group of local kids were out in the shallow water playing, taking advantage of the beautiful Sunday weather.  The water is deep blue, not the turquoise I remember seeing in the Bahamas. 

After settling in, the front desk manager told us to take a taxi and try to eat lunch at the Riverside Tavern, which was supposed to be one of the best places to eat in the city.  Unfortunately, we arrived at the restaurant to see a piece of paper taped to a gate in front of the restaurant saying that it was closed for repairs.  Our Belizean cab driver Abel decided to drive us around and show us the sights and then he takes us to the Riverside Tavern's "sister" restaurant that is right on the water.  From our table we can see fishermen standing on their motor boat casting nets into the water.  This is a common way to fish and seems to be an especially nice way to do it since the water is so calm in the nice weather.  Rice and beans is pretty much everywhere in Belize and is pretty much what you can plan on eating, so I decided to go ahead and get started with my first meal in Belize.  

Going back to the hotel, our taxi driver begins to tell us about his life in Belize.  He said that there is a lot of crime in Belize City (which we had been told before.  We were also advised later by our guide to not go out at night in Belize City) and there were also lots of guns and drugs in the city.  Belize City was once the capital of Belize, but now the capital is Belmopan and most things have moved to the new capital.  You can definitely see that the city was once more vibrant than it is now.